Press Releases
Whitehouse Calls Out Corrosive Dark Money Gerrymandering Campaigns in Supreme Court Brief
Washington, DC - Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and an outspoken advocate for free and fair elections, will submit a friend-of-the-court brief today with the Supreme Court in a case involving partisan gerrymandering in North Carolina. Continuing his work with the late Senator John McCain (R-AZ), Whitehouse argues that extremely partisan redistricting efforts, often fueled by anonymously funded groups with extreme special interest agendas, have dist… Continue Reading
03.08.19
Whitehouse Joins Bipartisan Effort to Crack Down on Illegal Robocalls
Washington, DC - U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse has joined an effort led by Senators Ed Markey (D-MA) and John Thune (R-SD) to crack down on disruptive illegal robocalls. Whitehouse this week signed on as a cosponsor of the Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence (TRACED) Act sponsored by Senators Markey and Thune. Amid ever-increasing numbers of robocall scams, the TRACED Act gives regulators more time to find scammers, increases civil forfeiture penalties for those who … Continue Reading
03.08.19
ICYMI: Whitehouse-Petraeus Call for American Leadership in Fight against Kleptocracy
Washington, DC - Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) joined retired general and former director of the Central Intelligence Agency David Petraeus to publish an op-ed in the Washington Post today calling for American leadership in the fight against graft and kleptocracy. If America fails to stand up for democratic values, we become complicit in the corruption of autocrats, risking "grave consequences both for the nation's reputation abroad and Americans' well-being at home," Whitehouse and Petraeu… Continue Reading
03.06.19
Senators Welcome as ‘Breakthrough’ a Judicial Conference Warning to Judges, Clerks against Partisan Training Programs
Washington, DC - Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), and Mazie Hirono (D-HI) welcomed as a "breakthrough" an advisory opinion published by the Judicial Conference of the United States' Committee on Codes of Conduct that warns federal judges and their clerks against participating in events sponsored by anonymously funded partisan organizations. The guidance follows revelations that a Heritage Foundation… Continue Reading
03.04.19
Whitehouse Files Brief Urging Supreme Court to Uphold Federal Agency Independence
Washington, DC - Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and an outspoken opponent of special interest capture of government, submitted a friend-of-the-court brief today with the Supreme Court in Kisor v. Wilkie, a challenge to long-standing precedent protecting the independence of federal agencies. In his brief, Whitehouse describes how Kisor is the latest chapter in a sustained effort by large corporate and radical right interests to prevent the federal g… Continue Reading
02.28.19
Whitehouse Introduces Bill to Get Americans Their Day in Court
Washington, DC - U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) today introduced legislation to bar mandatory, pre-dispute arbitration in suits involving public health and safety. Mandatory arbitration clauses in agreements push Americans into closed-door negotiations with an arbitrator, denying the aggrieved their day in court. Pre-dispute arbitration can hinder public awareness of health hazards like environmental pollution because arbitration is often combined with nondisclosure agreements. Senato… Continue Reading
02.28.19
Whitehouse Statement on Wheeler Confirmation
Washington, DC - Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), a senior member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, released the following statement on the confirmation today of Andrew Wheeler to be Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA): "Andrew Wheeler is another poster boy for the capture of our Environmental Protection Agency by the polluters it regulates. He is a former coal lobbyist famous for literally delivering the political playbook for the coal industry. A… Continue Reading
02.27.19
Whitehouse, Cotton, Moulton, King Reintroduce ALS Disability Insurance Access Act
Washington, DC - U.S. Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Tom Cotton (R-AR) and Congressmen Seth Moulton (D-MA) and Peter King (R-NY) have reintroduced the ALS Disability Insurance Access Act, bipartisan legislation to eliminate the five-month waiting period before ALS patients can receive the Social Security Disability Insurance benefits they earned by contributing into Social Security. This legislation would build on previous steps by Congress and the Social Security Administration to acco… Continue Reading
02.26.19
Whitehouse, Schatz, Heinrich to McConnell: Let's Have a Real Debate on Climate Change
WASHINGTON - Today, U.S. Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawai'i), and Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) called on Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to hold a full day of floor debate on climate change. "We respectfully request you and your Republican colleagues join us for a full day of floor debate on the climate crisis before any vote is taken on the Green New Deal resolution. We believe it is imperative the American people hear where both sides stand on this critical issu… Continue Reading
02.26.19
Whitehouse Joins Group of 9 Senators to Reintroduce Voter Empowerment Act to Help Protect the Voting Rights of People Across the Country and Ensure All Americans Have Equal Access to the Ballot
Washington, DC - U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, joined by U.S. Senators Ben Cardin (D-MD), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Kamala Harris (D-CA), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), and Ed Markey (D-MA) today announced the reintroduction of the Voter Empowerment Act. This legislation would help protect the voting rights of people across the country by ensuring equal access to the ballot for every eligible voter, modernizing voter registration… Continue Reading
02.25.19
Whitehouse Sounds Alarm about Ethics Gaps Exposed by Whitaker
Washington, DC - Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, renewed his request that the Department of Justice Inspector General investigate the Department's procedures for assessing conflicts of interest of senior political appointees like former Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker. In a letter sent today, Whitehouse writes that the Department's ethics officials appear to have stopped well short of gathering the necessary information about Whitaker's co… Continue Reading
02.25.19
Democrats Call for Investigation of Top EPA Officials’ Role in Reversing Enforcement Position
Washington, DC - Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), along with Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Ranking Member Tom Carper (D-DE) and House Energy and Commerce Chairman Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), have asked the Acting Inspector General of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to investigate whether EPA officials William Wehrum and David Harlow helped reverse the agency's position in a major enforcement action to favor a client of their former law firm. Wehrum and Harlow, Assist… Continue Reading
02.19.19
Whitehouse Calls Out Major Gap between Inland and Coastal States on Key Water Resource Funding
Washington, DC - U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) has submitted an official comment with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers condemning the major disparity between inland and coastal states when it comes to flood and coastal storm damage reduction funding. The Corps has spent between 19 and 120 times more on inland versus coastal funding over the past ten years, Whitehouse notes. Given that roughly 40 percent of the U.S. population lives in coastal counties, and those coastal counties suppo… Continue Reading
02.15.19
Reed, Whitehouse Reintroduce Public Health Care Option
Washington, DC - U.S. Senators Jack Reed (D-RI) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) have reintroduced the State Public Option Act, bicameral legislation to create a Medicaid-based public health care option to strengthen the Affordable Care Act (ACA) by providing Americans with a new high-quality, low-cost choice when purchasing health insurance. "I want Rhode Islanders to have affordable choices when it comes to health care and prescription drugs," said Senator Reed. "The State Public Option Act is … Continue Reading
02.15.19
Whitehouse Co-Chairs Bipartisan Delegation to 2019 Munich Security Conference
Providence, RI - Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) this evening will set off for Munich, Germany to join more than 450 world leaders and international security decision-makers at the annual Munich Security Conference. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Whitehouse will co-chair a delegation that includes 17 members of Congress. Whitehouse has served as the Democratic lead for the Congressional delegation to the annual conference since 2013, originally at the invitation of the late Senator John … Continue Reading
02.15.19
Whitehouse Applauds Passage of Bipartisan Bill to Avoid Shutdown, Slams Trump’s Artificial ‘Emergency’
Washington, DC - Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) today applauded Senate passage of a spending bill to avoid another funding lapse for the federal agencies affected by President Donald Trump's recent government shutdown and to secure important investments in bolstering coastal communities for climate change, treating addiction, and infrastructure upgrades. At the same time, Whitehouse slammed President Trump's intention to declare refugees legally seeking safety at the southern border a "natio… Continue Reading
02.14.19
Whitehouse, King Introduce Innovative Bill to Help Consumers Save on Natural Gas
Washington, DC - Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Angus King (I-ME) introduced a bill today to encourage natural gas utilities and companies to launch demand response programs, a well-established model that rewards consumers for reducing energy use. The legislation would leverage states' success in implementing demand response pilot programs that have proven highly effective. In addition to the potential cost savings, demand response programs can guard against price spikes and reduce the… Continue Reading
02.14.19
Whitehouse Statement on Barr Confirmation
Washington, DC - Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, released the following statement on the Senate's confirmation today of William Barr to be U.S. Attorney General: "Vague assurances from a skilled lawyer like Mr. Barr that evaporate under close questioning just don't cut it. He had plenty of chances to commit to upholding the interests of the American people and the Justice Department over the political interests of the president. Instead, he dodge… Continue Reading
02.14.19
Whitehouse Statement on EPA PFAS Action Plan
Washington, DC - Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), a senior member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, released the following statement today on the Environmental Protection Agency's Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) Action Plan, which does not set a drinking water standard for dangerous PFOA and PFOS chemicals: "After a year of hemming and hawing, Scott Pruitt and Andrew Wheeler's EPA is punting on action to tackle a serious public health risk lurking in Americans' … Continue Reading
02.12.19
U.S. Senate Passes Bill to Protect Wood-Pawcatuck Watershed
Washington, DC - The U.S. Senate today voted 92-8 to approve a bipartisan public lands package that includes U.S. Senator Jack Reed's language to designate river segments within the Wood-Pawcatuck watershed as part of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System. The legislation, cosponsored by U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, would establish Rhode Island's first ever Wild and Scenic river system and provide access to federal funding to protect and maintain the rivers of this watershed for recrea… Continue Reading
